Judge rules Genesee County Board of Commissioners not immune to lawsuit filed by drain commissioner

FLINT, MI -- A lawsuit filed against the Genesee County Board of Commissioners by County Drain Commissioner Jeff Wright will move forward after a judge ruled that the Board of Commissioners was not immune from portions of the suit.

File PhotoJeff Wright

Wright claims in the suit that the Board of Commissioners shortchanged his office by more than $2.7 million in health insurance refunds.

Genesee Circuit Judge Geoffrey Neithercut ruled Monday that commissioners could not claim immunity in the suit and that the case would move forward.

“I think that the judge made the right decision,” said attorney Scott Fraim, who is representing Wright and 25 other co-plaintiffs in the suit.

Wright, and the co-plaintiffs that share in the expenses of the drain commissioner's Water and Waste Services Division filed the complaint in Genesee Circuit Court last month, claiming the county pocketed the health insurance surpluses that his office should have received instead.

The county, drain office and county Community Mental Health agency were partners in a Blue Cross health insurance plan, according to the lawsuit.

But the county, which administered the plan, never shared in annual refunds that Wright's office and CMH should have been given back.

The county simply deposited annual refunds into the general fund from 2001 until 2008, the lawsuit claims.

Wright said public water customers throughout the county are entitled to a share of the refunds, which amounted to millions of dollars.

Co-plaintiffs include the villages of Gaines and Goodrich, the city of Flushing and Mt. Morris, Flint, Mundy, Argentine, Gaines and Fenton townships.

The judge ruled that a six-year statute of limitations applied in the case and that the plaintiffs cannot seek damages to actions prior to that six-year time frame.

Fraim said he has yet to recalculate the damages being sought by the plaintiffs following the judge’s ruling but said “there is still a significant dollar figure involved.”

William Reising, the attorney representing the Board of Commissioners, said other aspects of the case would have moved forward even in the judge would have upheld the immunity claim but added that he may file an appeal on the ruling.